The Hidden Element
by xxLuAshxx
Summary: Evelyn Whitlock is an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and wants nothing more than to rid the world of H.Y.D.R.A. and their evil schemes. Her team are assigned the help of The Winter Soldier, whose cold exterior immediately clashes with Evelyn's warm heart. However with new enemies threatening the world, will they learn to trust each other and work together to save the world? [Bucky/OC]
1. Chapter 1

**New FanFic! **

**Pairing: Bucky Barnes/OC.**

**With the release of 'Guardians of the Galaxy', I decided to watch all the Marvel films again and became obsessed with 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier', particularly a certain Bucky Barnes but noticed that there weren't many Bucky/OC fanfictions. I've also just finished watching Marvel's 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D' and was fascinated by the world of S.H.I.E.L.D outside of the main superheroes, so I've decided to do a kind of cross-over which I hope y'all will enjoy. I'm also aiming to make references to some of the movies and the show (just like they do in the actual movies) to keep things more interesting.**

**Pictures of my characters will be posted on my profile so it makes it easier to imagine them, and please review if you wish!**

**I do not own any of the characters or concepts that belong to Marvel, but I do own my OCs and the storyline.**

**Happy reading! :) **

* * *

I watched the screen intently as the three blue dots travelled up the monitor, indicating that the team were now on the stairwell.

"OK," Simon said to my left, shifting closer to the screen, "Now there's a guard patrolling on the third flight so you need to take him out in order to get to the fifth level."

"No shit, Sherlock." Will's voice crackled through our earpieces and my lips twitched up in amusement as Simon frowned.

"Oh I'm sorry, would you rather me leave you blind?" Simon huffed angrily.

"Agents," Gregory's authoritative voice warned, shutting both Will and Simon up. There were a few seconds of silence before I heard a muffled yell through my earpiece and the hitting of flesh on flesh.

"Guard down," Meredith informed us and I could only guess that she was the one who'd taken him out. I nodded to myself and glanced back over at another separate monitor which displayed all of the live footage the security cameras were capturing thanks to Jonathon who'd hacked into them within a minute. My eyes shifted back onto the map and saw the three dots hesitate on Level 5.

"The door's jammed," Will grunted, and I guessed that he was probably trying to open it, "It must be opened by some kind of key or code."

"Agent Sampford," Gregory called.

"I'm on it," I heard Jonathon assure behind me, accompanied by the fast tapping of keys. After what seemed like a couple of seconds, he declared "Got it," and I watched as the three dots passed effortlessly through the now open doors.

"OK now according to the map," I said, analysing the red dot in the centre of one of the rooms displayed on the monitor, "Colonel Daimler is in the room to your left, five doors down and has no guards with him." I held my breath as the dots slowly made their way to the room I'd directed them to and the fact that there was silence from all of us made the situation more unnerving for me.

"Hey," Simon whispered next to me, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder, "They know what they're doing; they're gonna be fine."

I offered him a small smile of thanks before turning back to the monitor, my eyes constantly scanning for any threat that could potentially compromise the mission and put the team in danger. I inhaled a deep breath before I heard the loud 'bang' of a door being kicked in and watched the three dots swiftly enter the room where the red dot was.

"Ah, I vas vondering how long it would take for a team to show up," a German voice sounded in my ear, and I gritted my teeth at the calm yet sinister tone he used, "And here you are."

"Glad to know we didn't disappoint." Gregory replied, his voice a little rushed and on edge.

"Oh, but you have." The German replied, "I vas hoping for a little…_more_," he informed and I watched like a hawk as the red dot on the screen began moving slowly across the room, "I mean, is this all the famous S.H.I.E.L.D has to offer?" he laughed.

"We've managed to get in here undetected," I heard Will reply, "So clearly we must be doing something right."

"Indeed," the German agreed, "Although you seem to be failing at keeping your little organisation intact…tell me, how long has it been since H.Y.D.R.A infiltrated your ranks, _undetected_? Seventy years?"

"I don't think you're really in a position where you can afford to be mocking us," Gregory's voice responded and as if to stress the point further, I heard the loading of his gun through my earpiece.

"Alarm's been disabled, sir." Jonathon spoke into his earpiece behind me.

"Oh but you see, I am," the German answered, "because what you failed to realise is that my guards are on their vay as ve speak, and soon you vill be dead."

"But what you've underestimated is the intelligence of our hacker." Gregory replied with just as much conviction.

"So you are not alone?" Colonel Daimler sighed, "I should have guessed…"

"Oooh dear…" Simon hummed nervously and my eyes snapped to the bottom of the monitor and widened at the sight of a large group of red dots quickly moving up the stairwell.

"Sir," I said urgently into my earpiece, "There is a large group of security heading your way currently on the second floor of the stairwell." I twisted around to face Jonathon who was frowning at his screen

"Damn," he muttered, his fingers typing away furiously "They must have been tipped off."

"Can you lock down the main doors again?" I asked hurriedly.

"Is the Pope Catholic?" he responded without taking his eyes off his screen and I smirked as I turned back to my screen, seeing the red dots trapped on the stairwell.

"Sir, I've managed to lock down the mechanical doors again but it will only delay the guards, not stop them." Jonathon informed.

"How long do we have?" Gregory asked.

"Judging by the probability of the guards being trained for this situation and the amount of firepower they've probably got, my guess would be three minutes." Simon rushed out, his thick Irish accent coming through. There was a moment's silence.

"Plan B." Was all Gregory said.

"Ah crap; I hate Plan B." Simon huffed before quickly shuffling away from me and climbing over the front seats of the van to sit in the driver's seat. He started up the engine and began the short drive to the location for Plan B.

"We always have a backup plan." I heard Gregory politely inform the Colonel as Jonathon and I began pushing the laptops and equipment as close to the van edges as we could, all the while trying not to let any equipment get damaged thanks to Simon's driving.

"Have you even passed your test?" Jonathon grunted as he managed to catch one of the monitors that nearly fell after Simon took a sharp corner.

"Look I'm used to driving on the other side of the road, OK?" Simon shouted frustratingly from the front of the van. I grabbed the safety mat from the back corner of the van and unrolled it, aligning it with the large sunroof Jonathon was currently opening above me.

"You're backup plan will serve you no more than this one has," The Colonel hissed and I gritted my teeth as I pinned down the mat, "You're precious S.H.I.E.L.D had no backup plan when we revealed ourselves, unless the plan was to panic and surrender." Simon suddenly broke sharply, throwing both me and Jonathon onto the floor of the van.

"Watch it!" Jonathon grunted before helping me up off the floor. Simon simply rolled his eyes and pressed his fingers to his ear.

"We're in position, sir."

"Roger that," Gregory replied, "Colonel, I'm sorry to say that this was only a flying visit," I quickly glanced at the map monitor.

"One minute, sir." I warned him as I watched the red dots scatter away from the door, presumably because they had just planted an explosive device on it.

"Vell that _is _a shame," The Colonel snarled, "I vas so looking forward to talking more with you."

"Oh, don't worry; there'll be plenty of time for talking later." Gregory replied lightly followed by the sound of an explosion through our earpieces. My eyes snapped to the monitor where the red dots filed quickly through the large doors and down the corridor towards where the Colonel and our team was.

"Time to go," Meredith's calm voice pressed.

"Couldn't agree more." Gregory said before I heard the sound of a gun colliding with flesh followed by a dull thud; Gregory had knocked the Colonel out.

"Agent Vandergard, get him to the van; Agent Farrer and I will give you some cover fire."

I bit my lip as I suddenly heard shouting and gunfire, and I waited with bated breath as a red and blue dot approached the window before hearing the glass of it smash. I took that as my cue and quickly crouched next to the safety mat, holding it in place, and it was only a few moments later that two bodies came crashing through the open sunroof and onto the safety mat.

"Just dropping in?" Simon asked with a smirk as Meredith crawled off the unconscious body of Colonel Daimler, who was beginning to sport a large blue bruise on his temple. Meredith simply glared at Simon before standing and kicking him out of the driver's seat.

"Tough crowd," he muttered as he came and crouched next to me.

"We're ready when you are," Meredith spoke clearly into her earpiece to Gregory and William as Jonathon and Simon hauled the Colonel's body off the mat and sat him up against the side of the van, handcuffing him. Soon after Meredith sent the message, two more bodies fell through the sunroof and onto the mat.

"Are you OK?" I asked, helping Gregory up followed by William.

"We're fine," Gregory assured, putting his gun back in its holster as William closed the sunroof, "Get us back to the jet." He ordered Meredith as he climbed into the passenger's seat next to her, but the van had already begun moving. Deciding to make myself useful, I crouched down in front of the Colonel and assessed his wounds, seeing light cuts of glass across his left cheek accompanied with the deep blow to his right temple.

"Jeez, how hard did you hit him?" I mumbled, gently turning his head to assess the wound better. It didn't look like it would cause any brain or tissue damage, and there wasn't really much I could do for bruising accept to put ice on it.

"We've got company," Meredith shouted as the van swerved violently, followed by the sounds of gunshots.

"Keep on course," Gregory ordered, rolling down his window and reloading his gun. William did the same and reopened the sunroof, climbing on one of Simon's tool boxes.

"Hey!" Simon protested, but soon after hearing William firing his gun, he thought better of it and came to join me.

"How's he doing?" He asked as I gently applied ice to the Colonel's temple.

"He'll be fine; will probably have a splitting headache, but fine." I replied.

"We should let him suffer with that wound," Jonathon said, glaring at the Colonel. It was true that we all hated members of H.Y.D.R.A, but my conscious always overruled my emotions…not that I'd tell Jonathon that.

"What, and have him completely disorientated for the interrogation?" I shot back, raising my eyebrow at him. Jonathon simply snorted in response and continued tapping away on his Tablet.

"We need to shake them," Gregory strained as he continued firing rounds at the perusing cars.

"Vandergard, there's a park to your left. If you cut through it it'll throw them off and get us to the jet half a minute quicker." Jonathon said, focused intently on his tablet and I guessed that he was playing Sat-Nav. Meredith nodded and took the sharp left as I held the Colonel up straight and Simon caught multiple pieces of equipment that was falling, cursing under his breath as he did so.

"Not as easy as it looks, is it?" Jonathon smirked as Simon roughly replaced the items.

"There it is." Meredith said and sped up towards the hanger, only slowing down when we reached the ramp of the jet. She parked the van inside and cut the engine.

"Get us off the ground, now!" Gregory commanded and she nodded before sliding out of the van and running in the direction of the cockpit, located on the opposite side of the plane. William jumped back into the van and locked the sunroof as the sound of screeching tyres were heard just outside. Jonathon dropped his Tablet onto one of the desks and retrieved his handgun before sliding open the van door. He and William both jumped out of the van, shooting at the cars branded with the H.Y.D.R.A logo as Simon and me grabbed the general.

"Whitlock, Marcotte; get him inside, now!" Gregory ordered as he too jumped out of the van and joined William and Jonathon. I watched as Gregory glanced at the switch which would close the hanger and then jumped behind the Mercedes.

"Now!" We heard William shout and Simon and I jumped out of the van, supporting the Colonel's arms on our shoulders, before manoeuvring him up the stairs into the main area of the jet, all the while crouching down low to avoid the bullets that were flying at us. I caught a glimpse of Gregory's hand shoot out to close the ramp of the hanger bay before the jet started lifting and Simon and I clambered up the stairs with the unconscious body. As the jet began to rise higher, we moved the Colonel into the thick interrogation room which was strong enough to hold an Asgardian and sat his sagged, unconscious body onto the chair.

"It seems to me," Simon grunted as the Colonel's weight was relieved from us, "That someone needs to lose a few pounds." I couldn't help but smirk at him as we readjusted the Colonel's handcuffs around the table.

"We're clear," I heard Gregory's voice from my earpiece, "Everyone OK?"

"Affirmative," Meredith's voice responded.

"We've placed Colonel Daimler in the interrogation room, sir." I said, leading Simon out of the room and locking the door behind us.

"Good work, Agents." Gregory praised, "Keep him monitored and let me know when he begins to show signs of consciousness."

"Understood, sir," I nodded before leaning back against the wall to catch my breath.

"Now you see Evie, _this _is why I always avoided field work at the Academy," Simon panted, leaning against the wall next to me, and I couldn't help but let out a small laugh of victory as another mission was successfully completed.


	2. Chapter 2

I balanced the mugs expertly on the tray as I left the kitchen area, walking through the lounge slowly and trying not to spill the boiling hot coffee down my blouse. It was quite a pressing task to do when I first started out due to all the turbulence the jet experienced, but over the months I'd gotten the hang of it.

I glanced up to the debriefing room and saw Will through the transparent glass, leaning against the table with his arms folded tightly against his chest. I cautiously elbowed the glass door and pushed my way into the room, only then noticing the frustrated frown on Will's face as he watched the wall-sized screen. I flicked my eyes up towards it too as I placed the tray gently on the table, seeing Colonel Daimler in the interrogation room, calmly sitting on the chair we'd left him in with his head bent forward slightly. Gregory was in with him, sitting on the opposite side of the desk casually, as though he was just talking to him, not interrogating him.

"Here," I said, picking up a mug and offering it to Will. He smiled gratefully at me and took the mug in his hands.

"Thanks," He responded, gently blowing on the beverage before taking a sip, his gaze returning to the screen.

"He's still not talking?" I guessed, mimicking Will's stance of leaning back against the table.

"No," he sighed, "He's being stubborn."

"Well wouldn't you be if you were in his position?" I asked rationally. He glanced at me from the corner of his eye.

"I suppose so, yeah." He agreed, our eyes going back to the screen. Gregory then proceeded to slide off the table and back into the chair placed opposite the Colonel, earning another frustrated sigh from Will.

"This is getting us nowhere."

"Jefferson knows what he doing," I defended calmly, "give him time."

"If Jefferson would only give me _five minutes_ with this guy, I'd have him talking in no time." He muttered.

"Yeah, and you remember what happened to the last prisoner you questioned?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him; needless to say Will had gotten the agent to talk, but it wasn't without a trip to the nearest medical facility and Will being banned from the interrogation room for three months.

He shrugged carelessly, "I did what had to be done." I hummed, unconvinced.

"Anyway, I'd better go see what Marcotte's doing…if he hasn't gone mad from coffee deprivation." I joked, picking up the tray again. Will's breath caught in a laugh of agreement and I smiled, backing out of the room and heading down to the laboratory below. I took the stairs one at a time before seeing Simon through the glass doors of the lab, working on the undetectable invisible spray we had developed. I tapped the code into the keypad and the glass doors slid open. As soon as I stepped into the room, I yelped as Simon practically attacked me, grabbing one of the mugs of coffee and taking a big gulp of it.

"Ahhh…" He sighed in content, suddenly seeming more alert.

"I swear you're addicted to this stuff," I muttered, placing down the tray and taking my own mug, "it's not healthy you know."

"You have no idea," he retorted, continuing to slurp the drink. I rolled my eyes and headed over to my station, checking my computer which was currently uploading some DNA samples from a Chitauri helmet we'd found after the battle of New York. We continued our research for the next half an hour, which involved Simon and I bickering over the chemical bonds within the spray, so we didn't notice Jonathon silently entering the lab, staring at us incredulously as we argued.

"No, no, no!" I insisted as Simon rolled his eyes, "The electrons that get pulled to the atoms through ionisation is what causes them to chemically react!"

"Yes, which is also helped by the pressure being held by the can!"

"Pressure has nothing to do with this!"

"Well what if it's due to an endothermic reaction? It's possible that the particles would absorb the heat from-"

"Henry," Jonathon spoke loudly, cutting off Simon. We both turned to stare at him with confused faces; Jonathon shrugged, "Just in case you were thinking of baby names."

I sighed and gave him a disapproving look as Simon looked away, turning beet red; he wasn't exactly the most confident person when it came to relationships with the opposite sex.

"What do you want, Sampford?" I sighed and he held his hands up in surrender.

"Hey, I bring _good _tidings." He defended, "I've found out how the guards knew that we'd infiltrated H.Y.D.R.A's base even though I'd disabled all the alarms."

"Do enlighten us," Simon chirped, walking around his work station to continue fiddling with the spray can.

"It appears that the surveillance cameras within the building were already being hacked before we even got there," he explained, picking up one of the sleeper guns from the work table "My guess is H.Y.D.R.A is taking extra precautions by secretly monitoring their own people."

"Talk about trust issues…" I murmured, taking the gun from Jonathon's hands and placing it gently back on the table.

"I was playing with that," he pouted.

"Each of these guns contains a dose that would be enough to knock out the Hulk," I said seriously, crossing my arms over my chest, "I've been developing it for the past five weeks, trying to get the right dosage as well as keeping it in proportion to the mass of the gun…do you _honestly_ think I'm going to let you play with it just because you batted your eyelashes at me?"

"I didn't 'bat my eyelashes' at you…although thanks for giving me the idea for next time." He grinned and I rolled my eyes.

"You're impossible," Simon groaned.

"In this job, there's no such thing as impossible." Gregory's voiced sounded as he entered the lab with Meredith. We all stood up a little straighter.

"Sir," Jonathon acknowledged.

"I've just received word; we're expecting a visitor." Gregory informed, looking at each of us.

"Oh, is it Thor?!" Simon asked excitedly. We all turned and looked at him quizzically.

"Sorry," he laughed nervously, his hand reaching to rub the back of his neck, "I'm just a big fan of Thor."

"No, not Thor," Gregory replied, still quirking his brow at Simon who had taken a sudden keen interest in staring at his desk in embarrassment, "Although our visitor is twice as scary." Meredith smirked behind Gregory.

"Oh God, it's not Banner is it?" Jonathon queried, his eyes flicking down towards the sleeper gun on the table.

"No, not Banner, although I do believe his blood samples should come through soon," Gregory nodded at me. After the battle I had spoken to Dr. Banner on several occasions, curious to know why his mutation seemed to be triggered by his emotions. I knew it was to do with the acceleration of his heart rate and the speed of the blood pumping around his system but I wanted to study the mutation in more depth. Banner happily agreed, promising to send me a few samples of his blood so that I could analyse it.

"Sir, she's here." Will's voice echoed throughout the speaker in the lab. Gregory nodded.

"She?" I quizzed.

"Agent Hill." Gregory answered, "Debriefing room, ten minutes." And with that, he and Meredith headed out of the lab and up the stairs.

"Well, that can't be good." Simon stated. Both Jonathon and I turned to look at him, "What?"

"Thor." Jonathon tutted and rolled his eyes as I let slip a little giggle.

* * *

The debriefing room was packed full of agents, all of us standing around the holographic table as Agent Maria Hill addressed us all. She had this air of authority about her that made you know you shouldn't mess with her. With her straight posture and brown hair tied back into a tight bun, she looked like a woman who meant business, and thus always earned the respect of fellow agents.

"As you all know, S.H.I.E.L.D is in the process of rebuilding itself," she began, making eye contact with everyone in the room, "We only have one hidden facility at the moment to minimise the risk of exposure to H.Y.D.R.A. Not only do they have agents everywhere, but they are also in possession of some of our best technology-"

"Most of which _we_ developed." Simon muttered grumpily next to me.

"-so would be able to detect us easily. We have very few new agents coming into our ranks so it is paramount that everyone does as much as they can for this organisation. I currently have a team of agents at this facility, working around the clock to reconstruct and upgrade the same technology H.Y.D.R.A has stolen from us."

"What team?" Someone asked.

"That is none of your concern right now." Maria responded loudly.

"Is it Director Fury?" Another agent asked.

"Director Fury is dead." She snapped, losing her composure for a moment. It was a sensitive topic that no one spoke of, but everyone was thinking. When we got the news that Coulson had died, everyone was heartbroken, particularly Maria Hill. I remember she used to be a warm woman who would give you as much help with anything as she could, but since then she had become cold and slightly bitter – an attitude which had increased since the death of Nick Fury. No one wanted to believe he was dead, hoping that he would just turn up out of the blue and start giving orders again, but it had been seven months since his assassination, and with no word from Fury himself, we were beginning to lose hope.

"Now, since Agent Jefferson and his team have extracted Colonel Daimler from his headquarters, this gives us a chance to uncover H.Y.D.R.A's next moves, so with any luck we should be at least two steps ahead of them." The surveillance from the Colonel's cell projected onto the wall screen as Maria turned to Gregory, "Has he said anything yet?"

"Not yet, but rest assured we'll have him talking by the end of the day." Gregory promised.

"Good," Maria nodded, "it is vital that we get as much information from him as quickly as we can before H.Y.D.R.A decide to change their plan of action."

"So after that, what's our next move?" Meredith asked, moving to stand closer to the table.

"We're currently bringing in all S.H.I.E.L.D teams to the base for upgrades to jets, weaponry and situations. One of the analysts at our base believes they know H.Y.D.R.A's next move, but we just need the Colonel to confirm it. If she is correct, then each team will be assigned an Avenger to help them."

My eyes widened and my breath caught in my throat. We were potentially going to be working with an _Avenger?_ That didn't happen to us. The closest we were supposed to get to an Avenger was through watching the T.V. screen.

"I thought the Avengers disbanded after New York?" Will piped up.

"That is correct. However recent developments have meant that they will willingly give their assistance whenever they can." Maria affirmed, "Remember this is only a precaution in case what we believe is real; we may not need them at all. Let's hope that we don't."

The meeting finished shortly after and my mind was still whirring around the fact that we could have an Avenger with us, on this plane. As exciting and fascinating as the concept was, it unnerved me; how grave was the situation for us if we each had to resort to an _Avenger?_

"Ooh God, I hope we get Thor." Simon strained, and I could tell that the boy was barely holding in his excitement at the prospect of meeting the famous God of Thunder.

"You want someone that can control lightening and create storms to be on a jet with us at an altitude of thirty-thousand feet?" Will questioned.

"Of course! Wouldn't it be amazing to say you've been within touching distance of an Asgardian? And not just _any_ Asgardian, but _Thor?!_" Simon burst.

"Yeah well, I'll take anyone as long as it's not the green guy," Jonathon stated and then quickly glanced at me, "No offense."

"None taken." I replied, and just at that moment Maria Hill and Gregory came over to our little circle.

"So, who have we got?" Will asked, turning to the higher authority agent.

"That will be decided when we land at base." She informed, "But all this planning is useless unless we can get Daimler to talk."

"Oh, don't worry," Gregory smiled, "I'm about to send in our secret weapon." His gaze turned to Will, who in turn smirked.

"Yes sir." Gregory nodded and went to turn away.

"Oh, and Farrer, make sure you don't punch out _all_ of his teeth? We still need him to be able to talk."


	3. Chapter 3

"God, you _never _learn, do you?" I huffed in frustration from my crouched position, pinching the bridge of the unconscious Colonel's nose to stop it from bleeding. I could practically hear Will's eyes rolling.

"Did I get him to talk?" He asked impatiently.

"Yes, but-"

"Did he give us the information we needed?" He pressed again.

"Yes he did, but-"

"Then _what _is everyone complaining about?!" He exasperated, throwing his hands up in the air, "I got the job done didn't I?"

"Yeah, and how long has Jefferson suspended you from interrogation this time?" I asked edgily, twisting my head to stare at him. Will's cool blue eyes held mine for a moment before flickering down to the ground.

"Only a month," He mumbled. I gave him a pointed look before focusing my gaze back on the Colonel. Blood had now stopped streaming from his nose, so I grabbed another tissue and wiped the red from his nose and lips.

"You're not supposed to be in here," Meredith's voice carried into my ears and I glanced behind me, seeing her narrowing her eyes at Will from the doorway. He shrugged.

"Jefferson said I was suspended from interrogating prisoners; he didn't say anything about me not being allowed in the room itself." She continued to scan him with her eyes until I awkwardly cleared my throat, catching her attention.

"Did you want something?" I asked.

"We're landing." Was all she said before exiting the room and I sighed, feeling the same sense of dread I had begun to feel ever since Agent Hill told us we'd be recruiting a special new member to our team.

I turned back to the Colonel for a moment just to double-check his wound before standing and leaving the room with Will in toe, locking the door behind us.

"I'm gonna quickly freshen up," I said, removing the latex gloves I was wearing. Will nodded in agreement and we both split off into our separate booths, doors sliding behind us. Our rooms were small and compact, but still gave us the room that we needed. My laptop was currently charging on my bed, papers strewn around it. I had been trying, in vain, to gather as much information about the Avengers as I could so I knew what to expect from each of them. However, in order to access their files, I needed a Level 9 clearance which none of us possessed. I had asked Jonathon to hack into the system, to which he ended up almost breaking his laptop in frustration as S.H.I.E.L.D had heightened their systems' security tenfold.

I shrugged off my white lab coat and quickly slid into my official black S.H.I.E.L.D uniform. I pulled my dark hair out of its ponytail and twisted it into a low bun whilst locating my S.H.I.E.L.D badge. After pulling on my black combat boots, I quickly gathered up the loose sheets of paper scattered across my bed and hid them within one of the many books on my bookshelf; I was an avid reader as reading allowed my mind to wander free from other subjects that were stressing my mind. Reading had, more than once, helped me get to sleep as it had when I was a little girl.

I shook my head from thoughts of my childhood, already feeling the guilt and pain blossoming in my stomach and chest.

Stuffing my badge into my pocket, I exited my room, walking through the jet and down into the hanger below. Everyone was there gathered in a circle apart from Meredith who I assumed was landing the jet. As I approached the group, I noticed Simon hastily giving out the sleeper guns we'd finished a couple of days ago.

"Are you sure these will take him out?" Will asked, holding the gun in his hands and weighing it up.

"Yes." Simon nodded, handing one to Gregory.

"Dr. Banner has managed to control his mutation thus far, and I'm sure S.H.I.E.L.D security at this facility has done all that is necessary to contain him if something should happen." Gregory said seriously, addressing us, "These are just a precaution."

I frowned as Simon handed me my gun. Of course I was happy for the protection, but I couldn't help but feel a stab of sympathy for Dr. Banner, with everyone being on edge around him. Well, everyone apart from Tony Stark who was constantly trying to goad Banner into shifting; the man had a death wish.

We braced ourselves for landing as we felt the bump of the jet touching down. We waited for Meredith to make her way down to us, Simon handing her the last sleeper gun, before standing in a line, ready to see the facility. Gregory nodded at Jonathon who pressed the button on the wall, lowering the ramp. As it lowered, we found ourselves on a cliff edge in front of a rock face, covered by grey rock and moss, with no sign of any facility. We all remained silent, waiting for…anything.

"Are you sure we're in the right place?" Simon asked, only to receive a piercing glare from Meredith. He shrunk back from her gaze, bowing his head a little as Gregory slowly walked forward, down the ramp and towards the large rock face. There was suddenly the whirring of machinery as five automatic machine guns appeared out of the rock, all armed and focused on Gregory. I held my breath and tensed my muscles, seeing Gregory in this vulnerable position and Meredith proceeded to grab my hand in and quickly squeeze it in reassurance.

"He's ok," she murmured, although glancing down I noticed her other hand hovering subtly over her handgun.

"Identification." An unseen robotic voice commanded.

"Agent Gregory Jefferson," Gregory declared calm and clear, presenting his S.H.I.E.L.D badge to a tiny surveillance camera I'd only just caught sight of. There was silence for a moment before the guns quickly moved and aimed on all of us back in the jet.

"Identification." The voice commanded again, although it seemed a little harsher than when it had asked Gregory.

"This is my team, also members of S.H.I.E.L.D," Gregory stated loudly, and we each raised our badges from our standing positions so the camera could see. There was a moment's silence before the ground the jet was on began to rumble beneath us. I bent my legs slightly, bracing myself for any impact before the ground slowly began to lower. My eyes widened as we were all lowered down into a large hanger, bustling full of other S.H.I.E.L.D agents and jets similar to our own.

"An undetectable underground base," Simon murmured, "Genius."

We continued to get lowered before being secured onto the ground and I noticed a steel roof slide over the hole we had just been lowered down, presumably to give the appearance of an empty cliff edge to anyone above ground. We steadily walked down the ramp as a group, our heads turning and eyes taking in the large facility with its grey washed walls and linoleum floor. Agents and engineers were marching around in pairs and groups, some checking machinery, others discussing tactical plans.

"Well, they've certainly outdone themselves," Will chuckled.

"Agent Jefferson," A female voice called. We all turned to our left and saw a medium, curvy red-haired woman in a black cat suit, standing straight with her hands behind her back; needless to say I didn't need any files to figure out who this woman was.

"Is that who I think it is?" Simon whispered excitedly.

"Yep," Jonathon answered, "And she's much hotter in the flesh, I have to admit." Which was a comment that earned him a slap on the arm from me.

"Agent Romanoff," Gregory greeted, striding over to her with the rest of us following behind dutifully. He offered her his hand which she accepted and shook firmly.

"We've been expecting you," she nodded, her face impassive and eyes quickly scanning over each of us before returning back to Gregory, "Agent Hill sent me to come and collect you for a meeting with the other team leaders. Your team are free to use the facility as they please."

Gregory smiled at her charmingly, "Then by all means, lead the way." Her face remained still before she turned on her heels and began walking away with Gregory following after her.

"I wonder if he knows she's too young for him?" Will mused.

"Don't be so silly," Meredith sighed, "You know perfectly well Jefferson puts his job first. Besides, it's against protocol for S.H.I.E.L.D agents to have relationships with each other; it can compromise missions."

"But Romanoff is an _Avenger_; I don't think there's anything in the S.H.I.E.L.D brownie-guide handbook that forbids S.H.I.E.L.D agents dating Avengers." He pointed out.

"In that case I'd better get in there!" Jonathon joked which earned a throat clearing and disapproving look from Meredith.

"Good luck with that," I smirked, backing away from the group, "She's with Banner." And with that I turned away and began wondering towards the back of the hanger where I could see several agents walking in and out of doors.

"Where are you going?" I heard Simon call from behind me.

"Exploring!" I called back with a smile over the growing noise and buzz of the other agents. I weaved myself in between them, avoiding clipboards and sparks that were falling from a couple of jets as they were being repaired. Health and safety would have a field day with this…although I guess when you're an agent putting your life on the line every day, health and safety isn't exactly top on your priority list.

I slowly approached one of the doors and peaked inside, seeing a large kitchen area where agents were drinking smoothies and picking food from what appeared to be a buffet table, conversing with each other. Although the older agents seemed to be talking professionally, the more younger members seemed to be enjoying the informality of this particular room.

I pulled my head out of the room and into the next door which was a fully-functioning, high-tech laboratory. I could feel excitement stir in my stomach as I watched several agents in lab coats flitting around several desks, dissecting, concocting and inventing.

_Oh, Simon would love this…_I thought fondly, knowing how much he wished our lab within the jet would be updated somewhat.

Seeing as how the scientists seemed to be working on something important, I backed out of the doorway and approached the next door, realising I hadn't noticed anybody go through. Frowning, and allowing my curiosity to get the better of me, I pushed open the door only to be presented with a long white corridor. I glanced behind me back into the hanger and saw that the other agents seemed disinterested in this particular door, opting to go into one of the others.

_It's probably restricted…_I thought, deeming it as the only explanation I could think of. I bit my lip and sighed, backing away from the door until I accidentally bumped into someone.

"Oh gosh; I'm sorry!" I gasped, turning around to check if the person was alright. What I certainly didn't count on was for said person to be Bruce Banner in a blue flannel shirt and white trousers.

"Evelyn?" He questioned in astonishment, readjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"Dr. Banner?" I questioned back, only for a brilliant smile to light up my face.

"What are you doing here?" He asked brightly with a smile, pulling me in for a quick hug.

"Well the last time I checked I was a S.H.I.E.L.D agent." I joked, pulling away from him.

"Yeah, right, of course," he nodded as though it was a stupid question, "You're all here to get debriefed."

"Well, Gregory is; the rest of us are being left in the dark a little." I responded and Bruce gave me a knowing look.

"It's for everyone's protection; if every agent knew too much then S.H.I.E.L.D would most likely be compromised again."

"I know," I sighed, "it's just frustrating. We're on the brink of war and most of our organisation is practically blind to the details." Bruce's only response was to give me a sympathetic look.

"Oh," he chirped after a moment's silence, "I have those blood samples you wanted." My mood immediately brightened.

"Great!" I smiled. He smiled back and lightly placed his hand on my back, guiding me to the door I'd just backed away from.

"After you," He insisted, opening the door. Cautiously, I walked into the white corridor and waited until Bruce walked past me to start moving.

"Why isn't this corridor busy like the rest of the hanger?" I asked, my eyes aimlessly scanning Bruce's black hair which was greying slightly as he led me down the corridor.

"This corridor is restricted to Avengers only." He informed me.

"So I'm not supposed to be here?" I asked, slowing down my pace slightly. Bruce looked over his shoulder at me.

"No, but do you honestly think anyone's going to argue with the big guy?" He winked, causing me to reveal a small smile. The rest of the short walk was silent with the only sound being my combat boots occasionally squeaking against the pristine linoleum floor. Down the corridor were several white doors, each looking identical and my mind wandered to what could be behind them. If these were just for the Avengers, were they their rooms? Training facilities? Bathrooms?

"Here we are," Bruce pulled me out of my thoughts, tapping at a key pad next to a pair of double doors. A green light flashed as he pressed 'Enter' and the doors slid open, revealing a massive laboratory, bigger than the one I had previously seen in the main facility.

I followed Bruce slowly into the lab, absorbing all of his findings on Gamma Radiation that were hung up all over the lab walls. On his desks were an assortment of microscopes, iPads, computers and a lot of electrical and specialised scientific equipment.

"Ta-da," he smirked, walking towards one of the cabinets in the far corner of the lab. As he was retrieving the samples, I noticed the security cameras that were hidden in the room move to keep Bruce in sight at all times and I frowned.

"It's just in case the big guy decides to try and say 'Hello'." Bruce said, knowing exactly what I was thinking. My gaze turned to him as he opened the cabinet which was actually a fridge, and he scanned through many differently labelled vials.

"Isn't it hard, though?" I asked, leaning against one of his desks, "Having to be monitored twenty-four-seven?"

"It was at first," he agreed, "But after the incident on the Helicarrier when I almost-" he cut himself off, sighing, "I just know that it's best for everyone this way."

"But I thought you could control it now?" He pulled out five red vials from the fridge and checked their labels before closing it behind him.

"I have a better understanding of what triggers it, but I'm still working on actually controlling it," he explained, walking back over to me, "Natasha's been helping me."

I couldn't help but smile at the soft, tender tone he used when referring to the red-haired agent. He had told me about Natasha the last time we'd met after I forced him to tell me why he was acting all evasive around the subject of his recovery. Initially, he told me he was scared of hurting Natasha after what happened with Betty, but I'd heard that the famous Black Window was as tough as nails and could take care of herself.

"Thanks," I said quietly as Bruce handed me the cool vials.

"So," he began casually, leaning back on the desk opposite me, "Any idea who your Avenger's going to be?"

"Well, I was kind of hoping it would be you." I admitted. It would have been nice to have Bruce helping us; at least it would have been one more friendly face to see every day, but Bruce's lack of knowledge as to who my team was assigned sent a wave of disappointment through me. He smiled sadly, already figuring out my thought process.

"Unfortunately I'm under house-arrest for the time being," he said regretfully and I glanced up in confusion, "Helicarrier."

"Oh," I responded, "But still, S.H.I.E.L.D can't keep restricting you from everything just because of one incident; you could be such a big help."

"I understand why they're doing it," He shrugged, "Besides, Hill's given me this big lab to play with." He gestured all around him.

"What are you working on?" I inquired. Bruce smiled at my interest.

"I'm currently helping the tech team in developing new technology for the laboratories in the jets…"

"Wait, really?" I asked, my pitch heightening slightly in excitement.

"Yeah, I thought you'd be happy about that." He laughed, his brown eyes crinkling in the corners. Suddenly, the lab doors slid open, revealing Natasha Romanoff. She glanced between us, freezing in the doorway.

"You're in a restricted area, agent." She told me in a hard voice, her glare piercing into me and I couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy, knowing what she could do.

"Relax Natasha; she's with me." Bruce said, walking over to her and placing an arm around her shoulders. Her glare shifted to him with a slightly perplexed look, "Natasha, I'd like you to meet Agent Evelyn Whitlock in Jefferson's division."

Natasha's eyes widened slightly as understanding dawned on her face, her lips forming into an 'o' shape as she turned to me.

"You're the one helping Bruce with his research?" She asked, although her tone made it sound more of a statement.

"That's me," I smiled timidly and I saw a slight look of guilt on her face.

"Sorry," she apologised, "Any agent I see with Bruce is either mocking him or bothering him." She tenderly placed a hand on his chest.

"Oh, I did at first," I smirked, crossing my arms, "I kept pestering him about needing my assistance until he finally relented."

Natasha's mouth formed into a smile and I felt slightly proud of myself, knowing how rare it was for the Black Widow to show any kind of emotion.

"Thank you," she said gently, "for helping."

"Anytime," I smiled back. Bruce pulled her a little closer to him and I took that as my cue to leave, seeing how it looked like they wanted to be alone together.

"Well, I'd better go and find my lab partner; God knows he's probably locked himself in a cupboard somewhere." I pushed myself away from the table as Bruce detached his arms from Natasha, both giving me a grateful look.

"See you soon?" I asked as I hugged Bruce.

"You'd better," He replied.

"I'll analyse these samples as soon as I can and send you whatever I find." I promised, pulling away from him. I smiled at Natasha, giving her a nod - a gesture she returned.

"Don't prioritise it though," Bruce warned as I began making my way out of the doors, fiddling with the vials, "Remember that this war against H.Y.D.R.A is more important than me."

"Of course," I nodded, heading back out into the corridor. The doors began shutting behind me but not until I heard Natasha's quiet voice say;

"Not to me it isn't."


	4. Chapter 4

The long walk back to the hanger was silent. The bright white corridor that had previously fascinated me now felt eerie and intimidating, and I didn't know whether it was due to the silence or the fact that I didn't have Bruce to vouch for me should someone ask what I was doing. But instead of dwelling on my discomfort, I opted to hold one of the vials up to the bright corridor lights as I walked, watching to see if Bruce's blood had any blatant observational discolouration or inconsistency.

Just as I thought I was beginning to see odd green pigments in the vial, I began to hear voices behind one of the doors to my left. I froze in panic, thinking that whoever it was was going to jump out and interrogate me as to what I was doing in a restricted area; I may have been a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, but I was in no position to take on someone of higher authority or an Avenger.

The voices, which I now recognised belonged to two males, began to get louder and I stayed in my spot, clutching onto the vials for dear life. However, the longer I waited, the more I realised that their voices were rising from anger, not because they were getting closer. Exhaling gently, I quietly and slowly went to make my way past the door, only to see that it was cracked open. I bit my lip as I caught a few of the words being exchanged.

"We're about to fight in a war, Steve!" A rough, masculine voice bit out angrily.

_Steve?_ I thought curiously, _As in…Steve Rogers?_

I knew I shouldn't have done it, but I just couldn't help myself. Silently, I crept over to the wall right beside the door and glanced through the crack into the room. I couldn't make out much, but my sight was predominantly fixed on the back of a tall, muscular man with short blonde hair and broad shoulders. This man was definitely Captain America, which was only confirmed by the blue and red starry spandex uniform he was wearing.

"Which is exactly why we need all the help we can get!" The Captain argued back. I couldn't see who he was arguing with as his large frame was standing directly in front of the other figure.

"We've both been on the battlefield; wars are won by soldiers and weaponry, not petty faith and belief." The other voice fumed. I felt a shiver of fear roll down my back at the voice; it sounded so intimidating and dangerous.

"Look, I've worked with S.H.I.E.L.D. before and let me tell you, if there's any organisation strong enough to take down H.Y.D.R.A. then it's this one." There was a moment's silence and I held my breath, irrationally thinking that they had heard or seen me.

"You don't get it do you? H.Y.D.R.A. are prepared; they're _always _prepared, for anything, and do whatever is necessary to get the job done. All I can see here is a bunch of rules and regulations that are slowing down our plan of action. We need to strike _now!_"

"S.H.I.E.L.D. know what they're dealing with, Bucky."

_Bucky? _I frowned, _I don't remember reading any files on a 'Bucky'._

"They've assigned us into teams for a reason, and I know it's difficult for you but you need to trust them." The Captain continued in a much more subdued tone. The other man barked out a humourless laugh.

"How can I trust a team I know will hold me back?" There was some shuffling about before the other voice spoke again, "I mean, just look at them! An old man, two fighters who have only been in the field a few months, a hacker of no use and two lab-rats who are probably going to want to run tests and diagnostics on me all for the purpose of _research _and _help_." The voice snarled, and I couldn't believe the amount of hatred in his tone, "They'll be barely tolerable at best."

"Buck-" Steve tried to reason.

"It's pathetic; _they're _pathetic." The voice growled.

Before Captain America could retort, I heard the voice of Maria Hill over the tannoy system;

"Attention all agents; report back to your jet for debriefing!" My eyes widened and I began sprinting as fast as I could down the corridor, not allowing myself to steal one more look at Captain America or the mysterious, hate-filled figure he was with. Recognising the door to the hanger, I roughly pushed my way through it, welcoming the sight of the hanger and all the agents scurrying around each other to get to their respective jets. Clinging onto Bruce's vials, I weaved my way in between the scrambling agents, my mind still reeling as to who this 'Bucky' was. He wasn't in any of the files I had uncovered so he couldn't have been an Avenger. But he was referring to a particular team he had been assigned to…who was he?

My mind continued to whir, feeling sympathetic for the team who had to deal with this man (the team he had described was practically every team S.H.I.E.L.D. had to offer), until I felt a hand slap down on my shoulder from behind me.

"There you are!" Simon's broad, familiar Irish accent cut through my clouded brain and I turned to him, startled, "Where were you?" His green eyes pierced into mine questioningly.

"I-I was with Banner." I answered. OK, so it wasn't the full truth, but showing the vials to Simon seemed to be enough for my answer to satisfy him. Together, we made our way to the familiar jet, Simon chatting excitedly in my ear about all the new equipment they saw the engineers putting into our lab and thoughts of the argument I had just witnessed faded from my mind as we approached the ramp where our team were gathered.

"And thus the lovers return!" Jonathon boomed cheerfully and I glared at him as we made our way up the ramp towards them.

"The idea that Evie and I are in a relationship is simply ludicrous." Simon stated and I turned towards him, raising an eyebrow. He looked at me for a moment and his eyes widened, realising what he'd just said, and began to backtrack, "N-Not that being in a relationship with you is a _bad _thing! U-uhm I mean, I'd love to be in a relationship with you. Wait- no, no that came out wrong. What I mean is, you know, with our jobs and stuff-" He continued to stutter and ramble on, his cheeks flushing red and I turned to a highly amused Jonathon.

"Happy now?" I asked, not amused.

"Very." He stated smugly.

"Alright, that's enough," Gregory stepped in and Simon quietened down, "We have five minutes before our guest joins us."

"Who have we got?" Will grilled.

"No idea," Gregory sighed, rubbing a hand over his face, "Hill was very specific in not giving us any clue as to who we've got." I exhaled in annoyance; why were S.H.I.E.L.D. withholding so much information from us?

"Then what on Earth was she debriefing you on?" Meredith implored.

"The plan of action," Gregory began, "We know that H.Y.D.R.A. is planning to infiltrate the most important governing bodies in the world. Their top priority will be the Capital cities with the most power and influence; London, Washington, Paris, Rome, Moscow...so that means, like us, they are separating into teams to take on each of these cities. Each of our S.H.I.E.L.D. teams have been assigned a city, and it's our job to root out H.Y.D.R.A. before they take complete dictatorship over them."

"So where are we heading?" Simon asked.

"Berlin." Gregory stated.

"Berlin?" Simon repeated incredulously, "You're joking. That's, like, the place where it all began; it's probably _crawling_ with H.Y.D.R.A.!"

Gregory sighed, "Agent Hill thinks that we've got the best shot at dealing with Berlin, and I trust her judgement." Before anymore could be said, an alarm went off in the hanger with Hill's voice once again echoing over the tannoy system;

"Attention Avengers; please report to your specified jet!" I could practically feel the buzz of excitement pick up from other agents in their jets, hearing mild chatter across the hangers.

"Here we go…" Will hummed as we all formed to stand in a line. Gregory, as our leader, was at the far end. Stood next to him was Meredith, followed by Will, Simon, me and then Jonathon on the other end to my left.

"Thor, Thor, Thor, Thor," Simon muttered under his breath to my right.

"Say Thor one more time; I dare you." Jonathon threatened.

"Hey, it's healthy to have a hobby!" Simon defended.

"It's not a 'hobby'; what you've got is an obsession. Or worse," Jonathon whispered dramatically, "a _crush!_"

"Sorry Simon, but I don't think you're really Thor's type…" I sighed sadly, playing along with Jonathon who nudged me with his elbow, holding in laughter.

"Oh, you're taking _his _side now? Great!" Simon huffed, "Even after _all _we went through at the Academy…"

"You set my room on fire!" I reminded him.

"Because you wouldn't let me proof it with the Expandable Foam I'd created!"

"Did you honestly think I was going to let you put all that gunk over my stuff?!"

"That's what she said." Jonathon winked and my lips twitched.

"Sacrifices have to be made in friendships!" Simon defended. A throat suddenly cleared loudly, stopping our conversation. All our eyes snapped up to see Gregory stood in front of the line with another S.H.I.E.L.D. agent I didn't recognise.

"We're not interrupting anything, are we?" Gregory asked sharply. We were silent as we shook our heads and I could feel my cheeks heating up in embarrassment.

"No, sir." Simon mumbled.

"Good, glad to hear it." He glared before turning his head back to the other agent.

"He will be arriving shortly." The agent said, holding his machine gun lazily in front of him. I inhaled deeply and released my breath loudly, rolling on the balls of my feet when I suddenly caught movement in the corner of my eye. I turned to look in front of me, out into the hanger and froze at the approaching figure.

He was tall, about 6'2 and had a long stride as he came marching towards us. As he walked, I observed how his long brown hair tickled his jaw line and also noticed the large rifle strapped to his back with two handguns and knives strapped to his belt. He was wearing a black uniform, not officially S.H.I.E.L.D., but looked to be somewhat armoured. His large black combat boots indicated that he was a soldier, as well as his lean, muscled, defined body, showing that he was strong and most likely fast. My eyes travelled up to his face, only to see that it was covered in a black half-mask with dark sunglasses.

But what really caught my attention was the shining metal arm in place of where his normal left arm should be, a red soviet star imprinted on the shoulder and black gloves covering his hands. I felt Jonathon stiffen beside me.

"Oh shit," He whispered.

"What? Who is it?" I responded just as quietly, but received no answer. The man marched up the ramp, his boots heavy against the metal, and came to stand next to the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, standing tall and crossing his arms over his chest.

"Your team has been assigned The Winter Soldier to aid you in your mission." The agent declared as the soldier stayed still. I felt my eyes widen, vaguely remembering hearing the name before…

"Pleasure to meet you." Gregory stated, holding out his hand to shake. However the Soldier simply remained frozen, like a statue. After a moment Gregory dropped his hand.

"OK," he said awkwardly, "Is there any way we can shorten the name? It's a bit out a mouthful, especially if we're in an emergency."

"No." The Soldier stated gruffly and I thought for a split second that I recognised his voice, but it was a bit muffled by his mask.

"Sure there is!" The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent chirped brightly, "What is it that Cap calls you?...Bert? Bart? No, Buck…Bucky!" He snapped his fingers and smiled proudly.

I froze.

This…this was Bucky? This was the guy I heard arguing with Captain America a mere half an hour ago? The guy who-

Oh.

Oh _hell_ no.

It was _our _team he was verbally abusing to the Captain.

How dare he.

How _dare_ he! He hadn't even met us and already he was passing us off as useless! Accusing us of not being enough for him…

He called me a _lab-rat._

My fists clenched and my jaw tightened, feeling my shock evaporate and be replaced with white hot anger. My breathing started becoming laboured as I stared at the soldier, standing there all high and mighty, and I could practically _feel _the arrogance rolling off of him in waves, making my stomach churn unpleasantly.

I wasn't even aware Gregory was making introductions until he came to me and Simon.

"And here we have Agents Simon Marcotte and Evelyn Whitlock, our analysts." He stated proudly, and I stood up taller, my hard gaze never leaving the Soldier who wasn't even bothering to look at us; this just fuelled my anger even further.

"And on the end we have our hacker, Agent Jonathon Sampford." To which Jonathon saluted him. There was silence as we waited for the Soldier to do something, but he simply proceeded to fold his arms over his chest and nod.

"Erm, well I think I'll leave you all to it." The agent decided, feeling the tension in the air before scurrying off the jet. Silence ensued.

"So…" Will began, "You're an assassin…that's pretty impressive."

Silence.

"Bet you've seen a lot of action." Jonathon tried.

Silence.

"…Sorry, but can you actually talk?" Simon barged. The Soldier's head slowly turned to him.

"Yes." He growled through that stupid half-mask. I bit the inside of my cheek in irritation.

"Ever worked in a team before? I know it can be hard to break into as a specialist…" Will tried again.

"I work alone." The Soldier stated, making the situation a lot more awkward than it initially was.

"Whatever suits you best," Gregory nodded, "Although communication is key for this team to work."

"Yes," I agreed loudly, "We always communicate with each other, during missions and in between…even at times when we find each other _barely tolerable_." I smiled sweetly, repeating what he'd said earlier about us to Captain America.

I felt satisfaction as the Soldier slowly twisted his head to stare at me, and my own hard gaze remained unwavering. I knew that he remembered what he said about us, so probably put the pieces together and figured out that I had overheard them. I could feel his stare burning into me, a stare I'm sure would make people tremble in fear, but I held my ground. The others exchanged confused glances, wondering what was going on, but the tension was too thick for them to cut it. So I did it for them.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some samples to analyse." I said politely, clutching at Banner's vials. I turned away and headed up the stairs to my room, still feeling the confused stares of my team, and the icy glare of The Winter Soldier on my back the whole time.


	5. Chapter 5

After I returned to my room, the gravity of what I'd just done hit me, hard. Leaning back against my door and closing my eyes, I reprimanded myself for acting so impulsively. I'd never publically called someone out like that before, and by doing so, I had most likely pissed off the most deadliest person on the jet. It was stupid, risky, reckless, dumb…yet _extremely _satisfying.

He deserved it.

Knowing that we weren't going to be reaching Berlin for a while, I placed Banner's vials on my desk and stripped out of my uniform, changing into a pair of jeans and my rouge jumper and taking my hair out of its bun. The confidence that had surged through me not ten minutes ago had now vanished, so I opted to stay holed up in my room for a while and do my own research on this 'Winter Soldier'. While my laptop was booting up, I retrieved the papers I had stashed in my book, quickly flicking through them in hopes of mentioning either 'Winter Soldier' or 'Bucky', but was unsuccessful.

I sat on my bed and pulled my laptop onto my legs, first turning to the internet. Typing in 'The Winter Soldier', a series of news articles came up mentioning Captain America and a _'mysterious figure'_ battling it out in Washington D.C. but these articles didn't give me much to go on as none of the reporters really knew much about the fight. However, seeing as this figure was connected to Captain America, it gave me a foothold to explore. My search for 'Bucky' came back inconclusive as there were too many unrelated people and T.V. characters of the same name…clearly I needed his full name.

I then logged on to the S.H.I.E.L.D. database, searching for any relation to 'Winter Soldier' or 'Bucky'. I became slightly excited when I saw his file come up on the screen, but as I proceeded to click on it, big red letters reading _'LEVEL 9 CLEARANCE REQUIRED' _printed across my screen as they had done when I'd previously tried to access any of the Avengers' files.

"Damn it." I muttered, running a hand through my hair. I decided to redirect my search to Captain America, and found, with interest, that he was best friends with a James Buchanan Barnes, also known as 'Bucky'.

"That's got to be him." I whispered, although I was slightly startled to find that he apparently died whilst on a mission with the Captain to bring down H.Y.D.R.A. in 1944 and was presumed dead. This confused me greatly; if this _was_ the same man, how could he still be alive?

Before I could delve anymore into this new discovery, there was a knock on my door. Closing the lid of my laptop, I stood and made my way slowly to the door, tapping the keypad and sliding the door open just a crack in case it was the Soldier. I sighed in relief when I saw Gregory standing there, arms folded and eyebrows raised.

"…Yes sir?" I asked quietly after his silence.

"Do you want to explain what went on in the hanger between you and the Soldier?" He demanded. I sighed, knowing that if Gregory thought there was a risk to the team, he wouldn't drop said subject. I just decided to be honest with him; not only was he higher authority, but I owed Gregory so much.

"Whilst at the base, I…_overheard_ the Soldier complaining about a team," I admitted, "which then turned out to be our team." Gregory nodded and looked thoughtfully down at the ground.

"I'm not really surprised; he _does_ work best alone."

"Wait; how do you know?" I inquired; I'd never heard of this man before. My eyes widened, "Have you read his file? Who is he?" Gregory regarded me for a moment, his eyes on mine.

"Simon wants you in the lab; said he needs help with the new spray." He insisted sharply before turning and moving away from my door, presumably down to his office. I huffed and turned back into my room, throwing on my lab coat and grabbing Banner's vials.

I made my way down to the lab, muttering heatedly about Gregory's evasiveness, and found Simon with the spray can in his hands, teeth clenched and squeezing it in frustration.

"Oh come on!" He groaned and I could see his knuckles turning white due to the tight grip he had on the can. Sighing, I placed Banner's vials in the test-tube rack before gliding over to Simon, taking the can in my hands and unscrewing the lid, releasing its pressure. I simply gave him a silent look before handing back the can and walking back over to my desk, grabbing one of the microscopes and pipettes on my way.

"Thanks," I heard Simon mutter. I simply smirked as I set up the microscope and grasped a petri dish, adding a couple of drops of Banner's blood to it and slid it under the microscope.

"What are you doing?" He called over after a minute.

"Analysing Banner's blood," I stated, focusing on zooming in on the mutated red blood cells.

"Oh God, don't tell me you're hoping to recreate your own personal Hulk."

"That's exactly what I'm hoping for," I responded sarcastically, "I want a miniature Hulk that I can keep in my room and unleash it on people who annoy me."

"Ha ha." Simon snorted.

"Ask a stupid question, expect a stupid answer." I replied airily, watching as the dark green mutations began to multiply.

"OK well, while you're going to try and create Hulk Junior, I'm going to go and grab a cup of coffee." He said, jumping off his high stool and heading towards the lab doors, "Do you want anything?"

"A cup of tea would be splendid." I sighed, offering him a grateful smile. He returned the smile and headed out of the doors and I watched as he took the stairs two at a time up to the main body of the jet.

Returning my gaze back to the blood, I observed as the multiplying mutations began to slow down, becoming passive. Pursing my lips, I leaned back away from the microscope and decided to see whether the mutations responded to anything. Scraping back my stool, I walked over to the fridge where we kept all our chemicals.

"Iodine, iodine…" I muttered, scanning the shelves for the brown liquid on my tiptoes, "Aha!" I cried in victory, hearing the lab doors sliding open and shutting again.

"Oh, that was quick." I noted, turning around to greet Simon, only to see a rather hostile looking Winter Soldier stood a few feet from me.

I jumped in fright and gasped, observing how his fists were clenching and unclenching in irritation, and for the first time, I saw his eyes – greyish-blue which at this moment were swirling dark like storm clouds. After a few moments of staring at each other, I cleared my throat.

"Well, nice to see you've ditched the sunglasses…although I don't think wearing the half mask is doing you any favours."

Judging by the way his eyebrows pulled down, that was not the wisest thing to say. He remained silent, those stormy eyes assessing me as though he was trying to find my weak points; a look that was making me nervous and annoyed at the same time.

"Was there something you wanted?" I huffed impatiently, crossing my arms over my chest defensively. His eyes narrowed.

"I don't like being spied on." He growled from underneath his mask. My jaw tightened.

"And I don't like being pre-judged by someone before they've even met me." I shot back challengingly. I saw his eyes pull up slightly, as though he were smirking.

"And yet it seems my assumptions were correct." My eye twitched and I inhaled a deep breath to stop my rising anger from taking over.

"You've been with us all of half an hour and you already think you know us?" I laughed, unconvinced.

"I'm good at reading people." He retorted confidently. I raised an eyebrow.

"OK then; _impress _me."

It appears that that was his goal.

"Your boss, Jefferson, is a workaholic who spends the majority of his days figuring out the best positions to put the team in in order to work to your advantage, whilst trying to ensure all of your safety's; Vanderguard believes she is second in command due to her age and the depth of experience the rest of you lack." He began slowly stalking towards me, "Farrer acts as the warrior and feels that it's his duty to protect you all which contrasts to Sampford who believes he has to constantly make jokes and quips in order to lighten the mood on the jet in an attempt to sugar-coat the reality and danger of the situations you are placed in. Marcotte is simply a scientist who wishes he was back at a ground facility where he could spend all day in a laboratory without the fear of getting interrupted or having his life put in danger." By this time he was practically towering over me and I had to crane my neck up in order to keep eye contact with him.

"And then there's you, Whitlock." His cold eyes seemed to lighten in satisfaction, as though he was enjoying giving out his shallow assumptions, "You're simply a girl who believes that her medical and scientific work is benefitting her team somehow. But what you don't realise is that your efforts at trying to fit in with the team and your mediocre attempts at contributing useful information to them is futile, especially when you're using these facilities to satisfy your own curiosity through personal errands that have nothing to do with the mission at hand."

I was speechless. The sadistic tone he'd used scared me, and he had me believing that he was right. My brain was still trying to process all that he'd said, and all I could do was simply stare at him, mouth agape.

"And apparently you have a _very _bad habit of eavesdropping; tut tut." He tsked in cruel amusement. My fists clenched tightly of their own accord, although he couldn't see them as they were hidden beneath my folded arms. I'd never hated anyone before in my life, but this man was the closest I'd ever come to feeling that emotion.

"And what about you?" I asked, my voice dangerously low, "_James Buchanan Barnes; _the prejudice, egotistic man who believes everyone should bow down to him just because of a few fancy moves you can do with a knife and because you have an arm made, presumably, out of Vibranium. Tell me," I inhaled a deep breath, knowing that I was about to cross the line, "What exactly happened in 1944?" I saw the amused glint begin to leave his eyes and be replaced by fury, which only increased in intensity as I continued, "I mean, were you really defeated by a _Nazi?_ No offense, but that would make you a pretty poor soldier if you were…"

The next thing I knew his cold, metallic hand was wrapped around my throat and I was slammed against the fridge with his stormy, dead eyes burning into mine with a hatred I'd never seen on anyone before; I actually began fearing for my life.

"I could snap your pretty little neck in seconds and make it look like an accident." He hissed threateningly, lightly squeezing my neck in his strong grip to illustrate his point. I should have just surrendered to him and begged for mercy, but the irrational part of my brain had taken over.

"You think my neck is pretty?" I choked out, "Oh, you do say the most romantic things." He responded with another angry growl and brought his face closer to mine, our noses mere inches away.

"Let me make one thing clear, _little girl,_" he spat, "I have taken out trained soldiers, other assassins, doctors, scientists – _I have killed hundreds_." His voice became low as he moved his mouth closer to me, sending a shiver down my spine as his breath tickled my ear, "And don't think for a second that I won't add you to that list."

I gulped, my ears picking up on the seriousness of his tone and the promise in his voice.

"Eavesdrop on me, or mention any of my past again, and I promise you that you will not live to see the next day. Am I clear?" I had no way of responding to him verbally due to the hand that was tightening ever so slightly around my windpipe, so I simply nodded quickly. He watched me for a moment before releasing my throat and storming out of the lab, not sparing me another glance. I sagged against the fridge, gasping for breath.

"Jesus Christ." I panted, the reality of how close my death had been hitting me full force. My life was practically on the line now and my previous assumption about pissing off the most deadliest person on the jet was indeed correct.

"Now I can't remember, do you take one sugar or two?" The familiar Irish accent asked loudly, entering the lab, "E…Evie?" There was a loud clatter as Simon dumped the tray and mugs on his desk and ran over to me, "What the-?" He put an arm around me and guided me to the nearest stool, sitting me down gently, "What the hell happened to you?"

I glanced up into his panicked, probing green eyes and shook my head.

"Nothing," I rasped out, "But will you do me a favour?" He nodded his head vigorously, "Don't ever sacrifice my company for coffee again."


	6. Chapter 6

"I already told you," I sighed, leaning back on my chair, "I went to the fridge to get some Iodine and suddenly began to feel faint. I leaned against the fridge hoping that the feeling would quickly pass when Simon found me."

Gregory continued to appraise me from the other side of his desk, his hands clasped against the wooden top. I could tell from the slight furrowing of his brow that he was unconvinced, but he didn't have any evidence to prove that I was lying.

In truth, I had _no _idea why I was defending the Soldier. Any normal person would have reported him straight away and let him suffer at the hands of Gregory. However, I reasoned that I did not want to give him the satisfaction of thinking that I was scared of him.

Besides, he'd only snub anything Gregory would tell him anyway.

"Fine," he exhaled eventually, holding his hands up in surrender, "Although I'm ordering Marcotte to keep a closer eye on you in future." I opened my mouth to disagree but he fixed me with a pointed look, daring me to argue.

"Very well." I relented, because I knew deep down that Gregory was only looking out for me.

"And I want you to take it easy for a few days," he continued, his voice laced with concern, "The last thing I need is my top medic out of action."

I smiled shyly and glanced down at my hands. A moment later there was a knock on the door and Simon poked his head around the frame.

"Ready when you are, sir." He informed, to which Gregory nodded. I glanced between them in confusion.

"Ready for what?" Gregory stood, buttoning up his blazer.

"I've ordered fitness tests for the team before we reach Berlin. I know we're not scheduled for a few more months, but after your spell today I'm not going to take any chances." He declared, moving around his desk.

"Why wasn't I informed of this?" I questioned a little hurt; as the medic, I was normally the one conducting the tests.

"Because, as I said, I want you to get some rest." Gregory sighed and I licked my lips.

"With all due respect, sir," I began, standing, "Having a faint dizzy spell doesn't mean I'm completely incapable of doing anything."

"I know that," he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Then please, let me at least _help_ with these tests." I pleaded. Gregory exhaled before exchanging a glance with Simon.

"To be honest, I could use all the help I can get." Simon reasoned.

"Very well," Gregory nodded, "But if she shows any signs of illness, she's to go straight to bed to rest."

"Yes, dad." I mumbled sarcastically. Gregory smiled faintly at me before exiting the room, presumably to get changed for his fitness tests. I followed Simon down through the lab and into the gym. Usually, we coordinated so that only a maximum of two people were using the gym at the same time.

"Do you even know what you're supposed to be doing?" I asked curiously, leaning against the wall as Simon struggled to boot up one of the treadmills.

"Of course I do." He insisted, furrowing his brows at the machine. I rolled my eyes, bent down and switched on the plug; Simon jumped back as the treadmill started up.

"What did you do?" He asked, flabbergasted. I simply raised an eyebrow and pointed to the now switched-on plug.

"Ah, yes, right." He fumbled, his face turning a little bit red. As he continued to make sure all the machines were up and running, I sat cross-legged on one of the mats and casually glanced through everyone's fitness files.

"I think we're all set to go." Simon announced.

"Gregory first?" I guessed, flicking through Meredith's file.

"Yep." He said as I handed him Gregory's file.

"So," I closed Meredith's file and rested my chin on my hands, "What do you want me to do?" Simon grinned impishly at me.

"You're on coffee duty."

* * *

"This is your fourth mug!" I protested, handing Simon the hot mug.

"So?" He asked, taking a sip and smacking his lips together.

"It's bad for you!" I stressed.

"It makes your teeth go yellow." A sweaty Meredith piped up as she was warming down. Meredith was the last one to be tested, and I could already tell from the notes Simon had written down that everyone had passed.

"It helps me think, OK?" He retorted, taking another sip and flicking through his notes. Meredith simply winked at me before heading out of the gym to get showered. I sighed and wandered over to the treadmill, leaning down to turn the plug off.

"Woah, what are you doing?" Simon stopped me. I glanced back at him.

"We're done, aren't we?" He shook his head.

"Nu-uh; we haven't assessed the Soldier yet."

I froze, eyes widening.

"What?" My voice wavered, an octave higher than it usually was.

"Yeah; Gregory said he wanted _everyone _assessed…even if they do act like they're the king of the universe." He muttered the last bit and I couldn't help but let out a little giggle.

"Take it he's not in your good books either?" I asked.

"Who?" A strong masculine voice interrupted. Simon and I exchanged a glance before turning towards the doorway where the Winter Soldier was stood.

"No one," Simon smiled innocently. I kept my eyes firmly placed on the ground, determined not to boost the Soldier's ego by giving him the attention he wanted…

Even thoughI could feel his eyes on me.

"Right," Simon clapped after an awkward pause, "We're just going to run a series of tests to determine-"

"I've done fitness tests before." The Soldier exhaled and my eyes flicked up to his bored face.

"Yet you clearly haven't done any _manners _tests before." I snapped, angry at how rude he was being. His eyes shifted from Simon to me and I noticed for the first time that he had removed his half-mask, revealing a strong, wide jawline that was dusted in light stubble.

"I was always taught to show respect to my superiors, not my inferiors." He remarked and I could feel my fists clenching.

"Let's just get on with this shall we?" Simon suggested quickly, sensing my rising anger. I inhaled a deep breath before turning away from them both, picking up the other files Simon had left on the bench beside me as he explained the fitness routine to the arrogant git. I began to make my way out of the gym to put the files away.

"Leaving the room because I've arrived? How mature." The Soldier drawled as he began to slip off his gloves and I turned towards him with a sweet smile on my face.

"Well I just don't think there's enough room for me, Simon _and _your ego." I could see his own smirk beginning to drop but I simply continued smiling as I turned away from him and headed into the lab. I placed the files neatly on Simon's desk, trying to prolong having to go back in the gym as long as I could. I managed to stay in there for fifteen minutes before Simon came bustling in, looking a little shaken.

"You OK?" I asked quickly, fearing that the Soldier had shown a similar display of aggression to Simon as he had to me. I knew Simon wasn't the best at confrontations, and having trained at the Academy and graduating together, I was quite protective of him.

"I'm fine," He insisted and then grabbed my hand, "But you've gotta come and see this guy." He tugged me back to the doors of the gym and I sighed, reluctantly peeking my head around the corner. I don't know what I was expecting to see really; maybe the Soldier lying down casually on the bench, or just staring out into space, not bothering with the tests.

What I didn't expect was to see the back of a shirtless Soldier, glistening in sweat and hauling over 150kg weights above his head.

"Jesus Christ." I breathed quietly, admiring how his strong back and arm muscles flexed as he lifted the weight above his head again and again.

"I know; lifting _that _much weight shouldn't be humanly possible!" Simon hushed. My eyes then drifted over to his left Vibranuim arm and I was entranced by how it appeared to be working exactly the same as his right arm, despite the fact that it was metal.

"Fascinating…" I murmured, although I guiltily returned to staring at his back and I could feel my cheeks heat up with blood as I saw he had two dimples at the bottom of his spine just above his trouser line.

I may have hated his guts, but I was only human...and female.

I could feel my heart rate beginning to pick up the more I watched the Soldier work out and I could hear his breathing beginning to get heavier, turning into panting.

"Excuse me," I whispered to Simon, suddenly feeling too warm. I walked speedily back into the cool lab and, without hesitating, opened the fridge and stuck my head in it.

* * *

For the next half an hour, I decided to make myself busy with analysing Banner's blood as going back into the gym didn't seem like a very good idea. Just as I was about to add Hydrochloric acid to one of the samples, the lab doors slid open to reveal Simon writing in the Soldier's file.

"Would you mind just finishing the Soldier's test?" He pleaded, "Jefferson says the jet wifi is playing up and needs me to fix it." Before I could even utter a word of protest, Simon practically shoved his file into my hands and flew out of the lab.

"Great," I sighed, screwing the lid back on the acid. Reluctantly and slowly, I walked back into the gym, scanning through the Soldier's notes and found, with a deep disappointment, that he had so far passed every test with flying colours, exceeding the amount of exercise he was required to do.

"Yeah he's only special because of that stupid arm." I muttered, elbowing the gym doors open. I looked up and saw the Soldier, shirtless, and running on the treadmill. I stood for a moment, admiring his body.

_Snap out of it, Evie! _I mentally scolded. Shaking my head I slipped on my poker face and walked towards him, acting nonchalant.

"You know you're only supposed to be running ten kilometres." I informed him, walking around to the front of the treadmill to see he'd ran close to thirty.

"Ten kilometres is nothing," he growled, and I rolled my eyes.

"It's quite a distance when you're sprinting it." I pointed out.

"You need to run more than ten kilometres on a mission."

"Well I haven't had to run that much so far." I said.

"Then you've never been on a proper mission." He shrugged, still keeping his fast pace. My eyes, of their own accord, quickly flicked down towards his defined, glistening six pack; I cleared my throat quickly.

"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow, "And how do you know what missions I have and haven't been on?"

"I've read your file." He replied and my jaw clenched in irritation; how was it fair that he could read my file but I wasn't allowed to read his without a Level Nine clearance?

"That's funny," I remarked, "I didn't know you could read." I scribbled down his speed and distance as he began smirking.

"I can read very well actually," His voice began to take on a darker tone, "Especially when it came to reading about the mystery of how you joined S.H.I.E.L.D."

My knuckles began to turn white because I was holding the pen and file so hard, and my nonchalant mask slipped as I glared darkly at him from under my eyelashes.

"Don't." I warned. His smirk grew as he slowed down the machine, jumping off the treadmill and bending down to retrieve his towel.

"Why not?" He asked, wiping the sweat off the back of his neck with the towel and then throwing it over his shoulder. I didn't reply but just shoved past him, making my way to the doors.

"Oh, by the way." He called out behind me and I stopped, but didn't turn around, "If you ever want to gawk me again, all you have to do is ask." I rolled my eyes and made a sound of disgust.

"Oh please," I sighed, flicking my eyes over to him, "you're not that much to look at."

"Really?" His eyebrow rose as he folded his strong arms across his muscular chest and leaned back against the wall, "The blush on your cheeks state otherwise."

"Oh no, that's just because I'm too embarrassed to be seen anywhere near you." I smiled. He didn't reply but just continued to smirk. I turned swiftly on my heel and stormed out of the gym, through the lab and up the stairs, bumping into Simon on the way.

"Evie-!" He smiled but I didn't reply, shoving the file in his hands and storming past him too, not stopping until I got to my room. I waited until the doors slid shut before letting out the massive scream of frustration I had been bottling up all day.


End file.
